WormRP:Character Creation Guide

Hi there, and welcome to WormRP! This page is intended as a primer for getting started roleplaying with us! Note that currently it's a little bit of a work-in-progress, if you are unsure about anything, the best place to ask is on our Discord server.

Step Zero - Where to be

Besides this wiki, the two places you'll want to have a presence on are our subreddit and our Discord server:

Our Discord server is used for most meta and informal discussion regarding the community. It's also where most of us end up hanging out and what-not.

https://discord.gg/KjYAwes

Our subreddit is where all of our actual "in character" roleplaying happens. We also handle initial character and lore approvals there, although oftentimes we try to sort out issues in real-time on the Discord.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wormrp/

All of our sites are governed by the Rules and the Community Code. You should definitely read the former, and at least be aware that the latter exists.

Step One - Character Concept

This section assumes you are somewhat familiar with Worm and may include spoilers. You've been warned!

The first, and most important, step of character creation is figuring out what your concept is. There are two primary ways of looking at this, and each have their pros and cons.

The first method is developing a character, figuring out some sort of trigger event, and then workshopping out what power would result. For the most part this tends to result in "tighter" characters, but for newcomers, figuring out a power can be tough.

The alternative option is starting with a cool power or concept, and working backwards from there to determine what sort of person and/or trigger would result in that power. For first-time players or those unfamiliar with powergen, this might be the easier option.

Unpowered Characters
Many players have opted to play unpowered characters. This is perfectly fine! Just skip the trigger and power stuff, as needed. Many times a player will do this, planning on having them trigger in-character, but that's not necessary either. We've had several successful just plain ol' humans in our RP and they've pretty much always been fun to play with.

Regardless, you will need (usually) three things for your concept:

A person

Who were they before they got powers? What did they do, what was their family like, their personal life, etc? What changed when they got powers? What are their ambitions and goals and dreams? Also, more practically, what's their name, appearance, skills, etc?

A trigger

Everyone has some breaking point that caused them to gain powers. This is called their trigger event. The nature of that event directly determines how the character's powers are manifested. This is much more of an art than a science, so don't be worried about getting things 100% right. Checking out #character_creation on the Discord is a good place to start, and some helpful links are included in the pins!

A power

Your character's power is directly derived from your power. Depending on what that trigger is, the power will be manifested in a specific way. Again, a lot of this is subjective, so don't worry 100%. Just remember that a Wormy power is one that tries to indirectly "solve" the problem while reminding its wielder of their trauma and promoting conflict.

Again, if you aren't sure, vomit your idea into the Discord and our powergenners can help! It's also worth considering balance here, something stupidly OP will probably not make it past the Approval process. That being said, don't worry about it too much.

Some tips and tricks for those new to things:

• Keep your first power simple. We're normally not super keen on newcomers having super complex powers, for many assorted reasons. It might be better to keep the weird one for your second or third character instead.
• Stop thinking about numbers! We're not a mechanic-based roleplay, and while some characters opt to toss numbers into their power details, it's not recommended. Try to come up with a power that can be described without enumerating things. This gives you flexibility (something Wormy powers tend to have!) and keeps the RP simple.
• For relating a trigger to a power, the Worm Power Docs are a great way to get some help. Anything relating to Weaverdice mechanics (Tinkers, we're looking at you) can be safely disregarded.
• If you want to help flesh out a character, consider writing a short snip of their power in use to get an idea of how it feels. This may also kill two birds with one stone, as the Approval process will ask for an example of your power in use.

A Note on Frequently Difficult Power Genres

While we're open to all power concepts in theory, a handful have historically proven to be "problem children". If this list applies to your power concept it's probably worth waiting till you get a feel for the server before applying this, or at least doing some heavy workshopping. These "Restricted" powers can be done by anyone, but will be looked at with an extra degree of scrutiny simply for their potential for problem-causing. Additionally, there's a small list of "Discouraged" powers that have been beaten like a dead horse. In these cases, doing something a little more off-the-wall might help your character stand out. That said, if you have a fresh and unique take on one of those powers go for it!

Restricted:

• Time Travel
• Precognition
• Death Touch
• Instant Dodge
• Mind Reading
• Mind Control
• Body Puppeteering
• Creating Sentient Life
• Dimensional Travel
• Resurrection (others or self)
• Architect Tinkers

Discouraged:

• Self-Improvement Tinkers
• Power-in-a-bottle Tinkers
• 'Food Tinkers'
• Hemokinetics
• Nebulous 'enhanced reflexes'

Step Two - Drafting Your Character

Once you have your concept made, you'll want to post it to the Subreddit. This process is pretty simple, most of what you'll be doing is copying the following template, and filling in the blanks:

# Character Name 

* **Name / Alias:** 
* **Age:** 
* **Alignment:** 

## Public Information

*Starting Reputation:* 


## Physical Appearance


## Mentality


## Resources

*Wealth Level:* 


## Equipment


## Skills


## Power

*Trigger type:* 


## Example


## Backstory

Reputation: For more information on the Starting Reputation, and how to determine yours, see WormRP:Reputation.

Wealth: For more information on the Wealth level, and how to determine yours, see WormRP:Personal Wealth.

Example: We ask for an example in the post, this is basically a short blurb that shows your character's power in use. It doesn't need to be canonical, but it should give an example of what we should expect power-wise from them. This is to help the Approval staff figure out how it'll work "in the wild". Note that while you are more than welcome to use existing characters as others in your example, seek permission from their players beforehand.

Tinkers: If your character is a Tinker, you will need to post any starting Tinkertech as well. This should be done as comments underneath the main character post. The template for equipment is located here.

For an example of how this template should look when completed, here are a couple examples:

• Powerplay (fairly normal cape)
• Misfit (complex Changer power)
• Blur (Tinker)

Regardless, once this is done, post it to the subreddit, and ensure it has a "Character" flair. Once this is done, it'll get added to the approval queue!

Step Three - Approval

Once your character has been posted, it should automatically be added to the approval queue. If you're a newcomer, we will typically skip pending approvals from existing players, so don't worry too much if you see a lot of people in the queue.

To see the queue status, you can run the !queue command on the Discord, or click this link.

Once it's entered the pipeline, it will go through the following steps:

Pending

When your sheet is Pending, this simply means one of our Approvers hasn't gotten to you yet. Please be patient, we all have day jobs and whatnot. If it's been more than a couple days and you haven't seen anybody claim your character, a poke in #meta_discussions might be okay!

Working

Once an Approver has grabbed your sheet, they'll take a gander at it and start asking questions and/or asking you to make changes. This may be done as comments on the subreddit, but in some cases for more complex issues, Discord DMs might be more suitable.

Regardless, while discussing any changes, DO NOT EDIT YOUR CHARACTER SHEET. Your Approver will give you the o.k. when it's time to make edits. It makes the process far more complicated if you start editing while we're trying to look things over.

Editing

Once your Approver clears you to edit your sheet, go ahead and do those edits. Don't resubmit as a new character, please use reddit's "edit" feature. When you have completed these edits, contact your Approver, and after a quick check you should be approved!

Approved

Once your character is approved, all you need to do is add them to the wiki (the thing you're on right now!). This is a simple enough process but one thing to be aware of is that the Wiki and Reddit use different formats.

First, make sure you have a wiki account by going to Special:CreateAccount.

Secondly, go to this page, type your cape name in, and hit Submit. This will bring you to the wiki editing page with the template pre-filled.

All you'll need to do is transfer over the sections from your approval, and optionally fill in any extra info. One thing worth noting, anything between <!-- these --> will not do anything. You can delete these comments, but make sure you don't put anything in there as the wiki will not be able to see it.

There are some minor syntax differences, if you don't want to change everything over manually, this site will "translate" short snippets into Wiki Language for you. If you have any questions, ask in #wiki_support on the discord and a Nerd should be able to help.

Step Four - Ready!

Once you've posted to the wiki, you're finally free of Approval Hell and good to roleplay! Feel free to make an event, hop into one, or whatever else!

Once you start commenting on the subreddit, you should automatically receive the Active Players role on the discord. In addition, you will also get various roles according to your characters (for example the Protectorate, Villains, etc roles, which have access to certain chats). If you would like to have your subreddit flair updated, run the !flair command on Discord.

Heroes in good standing with the PRT (all Protectorate and Wards, and indie heroes that aren't murderhobos) may consider introducing themselves in the biweekly PRT Commons threads.